President

Central Conference Covenant Women Ministries

A Word from Our President

It is always good for me to be back in a fall routine. Summers, once thought to be a time of vacations, no schedules, and carefree days have become - in our culture – almost busier than the rest of the year. Summers can include stressful travel, crowded destinations, and overly competitive lessons and sports for our kids. Some of our European neighbors with four or six weeks of vacation do not understand our pace! The fall season offers some predictability to family schedules as well as the welcome relief from hot weather and air-conditioning!

Summer, however, offers many of us new experiences and adventures that challenge or stretch us in a variety of ways. Such was the case with “My International Summer.”

The early part of the summer I was privileged to travel to Sweden with my mother and one daughter. It meant a lot to my mom to share her family heritage with three generations. Besides meeting many relatives and new friends, a highlight for me took place on Pentecost Sunday in the Mission Covenant Church in Stockholm. This is a large international church in the downtown area where Swedish, Korean, and International (English/African) congregations meet every week. On this Sunday each group started its service in a different location but then came together for a truly moving blended service of word, song and communion. What a picture of the Heavenly Kingdom!!

Later in the summer I attended Triennial with over three hundred of you women from the Central Conference – nearly 1100 overall. Again, a highlight for me was the International Celebration and the meeting of our two Japanese guests. Eiko was the woman sponsored by our Raise the Flag Project from the Central Conference and Asami came along on her own. It was wonderful to see how much we share in our Christian walk with these dear ladies and was also a vivid reminder of how fortunate we in the United States are when it comes to practicing our Christianity.

Technology has made our world more global and more accessible yet politics and unrest makes it increasingly difficult to share the Good News. We in the Central Conference can, but need not travel very far to impact those in different cultures. The Central Conference is home to Chicago, one of the most diverse cities in the world and all of our communities have seen those from different cultures come to call our towns and cities home. I would hope that all of us would meet the challenge of establishing connections, especially with women, in our own communities and across the world to impact the lives of those who need to know Jesus Christ.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you.

2 Thessalonians 2: 16-17

In Him,

Candi Tepke